Listen to News with Tara Benwell - Instructions:
1. Preview the vocabulary and read the gapfill text.
2. Play the news report and try to fill in the blanks.
3. Answer the comprehension questions by writing full sentences.
4. Use the discussion question to write an essay or discuss the story with other students.
5. Click "show Answers" to see the full text.
6. Pretend to be a news anchor by reading each story out loud.

China Bans Import of Plastic Waste

The US, the UK, and Japan are facing garbage problems now that China has banned the import of many types of foreign waste, including many plastics and mixed papers. Before the January 1 ban, China was importing 500,000 tonnes of plastic for recycling each year. The UK’s Environment recently admitted that they have not planned well for this policy change and do not currently have a short-term solution to their plastic waste problem. The US was exporting about one-third of recycling to China before the ban. Without other in place, some sorting facilities are already telling people to place their plastics in the regular garbage.

Comprehension Questions

Before this year, where did many rich countries ship a lot of recyclables to?

What happened on January 1 of this year?

What did the UK’s Environment Secretary admit?

Discussion Question

How will consumers be affected by this ban?

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China Bans Import of Plastic Waste

The US, the UK, and Japan are facing major garbage problems now that China has banned the import of many types of foreign waste, including many plastics and mixed papers. Before the January 1 ban, China was importing 500,000 tonnes of Britain’s plastic for recycling each year. The UK’s Environment Secretary recently admitted that they have not planned well for this policy change and do not currently have a short-term solution to their plastic waste problem. The US was exporting about one-third of its recycling to China before the ban. Without other alternatives in place, some sorting facilities are already telling people to place their plastics in the regular garbage.

Before this year, many rich countries shipped a lot of recyclables to China.

On January 1 of this year, China banned the import of many types of foreign waste including mixed papers and many plastics.

The UK’s Environment Secretary admitted that Britain does not currently have a solution to this waste problem.

Written by Tara Benwell for EnglishClub

Tara Benwell is a Canadian freelance writer and editor who specializes in materials and articles for the ELT industry.

3 Comments

Helio Barbosa says:

Hi!
In 1970 years, people have used bags of paper in super markets, maybe ban the plastic bags and other things produced with plastic to be the solution.
The people don’t let to use plastic while they are produced.

Alberto says:

Containers and packings will be more difficult to recycle and so recycling will become more expensive and so consumers will have to pay more for the products they buy.

Contrary to popular belief it is very difficult to recycle everything we use.

Bijan says:

Hi Tara,

First, Happy New Year 2018.
I hope your dreams will come true in new year and also wish you and your nice family all the best in 2018.

Second, thank you for presenting the best news reports for your students in 2017.

Third, I have one question:
Why has china banned the import of many types of foreign waste?
Is it an economic war against the US, the UK and Japan? or does it have other reasons?

I myself guess, maybe, it’s an economic war against the US and the west countries.